Iain Duncan Smith today described as "shaming" the failings of Britain's health and education services and pledged that driving up standards would be the defining mission of a future Tory government.

In his keynote speech to the Tories' annual conference in Blackpool, his first as party leader, Mr Duncan Smith accused the Labour Government of being incapable of radical reform of the public services because of their dogmatic suspicion of the private sector.

The Tories were unhampered by such "ideological baggage" and would put together a coalition of the public, private, faith and voluntary bodies to achieve the high standards which "a hard-working, self-respecting country deserves."

Mr Duncan Smith told delegates: "Whether it is the air we breathe, the public transport we take to work, or the countryside we live in, there is a growing sense of unease that our quality of life is diminishing.

"In our country, the sick cannot get the treatment they need. In many of our inner cities the young do not receive the education they deserve. I call that shaming.

"We are the fourth richest country on earth. We should be providing public services that match those of our European neighbours not those of the Third World."

Mr Duncan Smith continued: "The sad fact is this: a generation ago Britain was the sick man of Europe. Today Britain is the last place in Europe any man or woman would want to fall sick.

"Our European neighbours simply enjoy better hospitals and schools, because they put the needs of their people before the demands of dogma. If we are to live up to the demands of a new century we must do the same.

"That is our greatest mission at home over the coming years: to assemble the coalition of charities and churches, the public and private sectors that will deliver results."

Despite his well known euroscepticism, Mr Duncan Smith said he would despatch his shadow cabinet colleagues to other countries, including other European states, to study how they provide better quality services.

Mr Duncan Smith has argued that the general election campaign and its outcome demonstrated the importance of the party focusing on the public services.

Reflecting the leadership team's concern to avoid being painted as obsessive eurosceptics - Europe rated only a few mentions in the conference hall during the week - Mr Duncan Smith gave little space in his speech to the European single currency.

The leader devoted only three paragraphs to the subject - though possibly they prompted the loudest applause from his audience - and did no more than underline the existing policy.

He told delegates: "Now more risk is being added to an already uncertain economy.

"We have been told that the course is now set for entry into the euro. As a party we will oppose that. Whenever the referendum comes we will fight to keep the pound.

"And the clarity of our position means we can concentrate on the crisis in our hospitals, the failure in our schools and the crime on our streets, while others talk about a timetable for scrapping the pound."

The recently elected leader also spelt out his determination to make the party more inclusive.

Women, ethnic minorities and people of "different lifestyles" had to have greater opportunity within the party. "I will be intolerant of anyone who is intolerant of others," he declared.

Although Mr Duncan Smith was keen to highlight his concern about the state of the public services, a large part of his speech was nevertheless devoted to the international situation.

He launched a highly personal attack on Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.

Mr Duncan Smith said: "Bin Laden claims to speak for Islam, but he cannot. His is a cynical and suicidal cult dedicated to the destruction of civilisations and lives, irrespective of their faith.

"This is a man who sends young acolytes to die for his own pathological purpose, while he himself skulks in caves. This is a man who prefers martyrdom at a distance."

Mr Duncan Smith complained that the Human Rights Act was proving an obstacle to protecting British citizens' lives. He called for legislative changes to upgrade public protection.

Mr Duncan Smith's 35-minute speech, during which his voice occasionally seemed croaky - he has been plagued by a cold this week - earned him a four-and-a-half minute standing ovation from delegates.

The speech marked the end of the Okhaki' conference season - all three of the main party conferences were overshadowed by the repercussions of the September 11 attacks and the consequent military strikes against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

Like last week's Labour conference in Brighton, this week's event in Blackpool was curtailed because of the international crisis, and was affected further by the recall of Parliament on Monday night, which saw the bulk of Tory MPs, including Mr Duncan Smith and most of his frontbench team, breaking their stay on the North West coast to return to Westminster for the emergency debate on the air strikes.

Just as last week, the sober atmosphere was reinforced by a relative lack of party political knockabout in most of the keynote speeches, and in a much reduced fringe programme.

The conference was also shorn of some of its usual star turns. With Mr Duncan Smith keen to establish his authority over his party, former Prime Minister Baroness Thatcher stayed away from the event, as did her successor John Major.

There was no sign either of former Chancellor and beaten leadership contender Kenneth Clarke.

Four years after his own ultimately unsuccessful attempt to relaunch the party as an election winning machine, Mr Duncan Smith's immediate predecessor William Hague did put in an appearance.

Mr Hague offered the new leader his staunch backing and told conference that however demoralising the outcome of the general election on June 7, the party would "fight again and win again."

The new leader's eagerness to establish his authority over the party, and his determination that it should focus on contemporary issues rather than revisiting the battles of the Thatcher era, was evident throughout.

In one interview he declared: "All previous Conservative governments, Lady Thatcher's as well, are in our past. You don't condemn your past, you don't reject it, you simply learn from it.